The dream began the same way it always did.
In Cocoyasi Village, a chilly wind blew through the quiet dawn. Nami was standing at the edge of the entrance gate, barefoot, her tiny hands clenched around the wooden post until her knuckles were white.
Fearing that she would miss her sister's return, she refused to blink or take a nap, even though her eyes were red and swollen from staying up all night.
Behind her, Genzo stood with his arms crossed, his jaw clenched, a quiet fury simmering in his gaze. A few villagers had gathered too—Bell-mère's old friends, the elders, even some children. No one spoke. The fear in the air was thick, bitter like smoke, a heavy shroud over the desperate hope they all held.
They didn't see the group approaching until the sun finally breached the horizon, casting a bruised gold over the mist-laced dirt path leading from Arlong Park.
"There! They're back!" one of the villagers whispered, the words a fragile, hopeful prayer.
Nami's eyes lit up instantly. A sob of pure relief caught in her throat. She could see the same group of men who had arrived the day before—Marines and government officials in black suits with unreadable expressions. And among them, walking slowly, was Nojiko.
"Nojiko-nee!!" Nami cried out and took a step forward, ready to run.
But she stopped.
A cold dread, sharp as a knife, sliced through her relief. Nojiko's shirt was soaked in dried blood. Her hair was matted with grime and who knew what else, her eyes were hollow, her steps were slow and unsteady.
The men around her were in worse shape—their uniforms torn, their faces and uniforms smeared with something dark and red, with what looked like pieces of meat stuck to their clothes.
Nami's breath caught in her throat.
She looked at Genzo, who remained silent and standing quietly, his jaw locked in a tense line.
Then she looked back at Nojiko, and her small heart ached.
The girl looking at her wasn't the sister she remembered anymore. Nojiko's expression was blank—neither relief, nor happiness, nor sorrow. Just... a terrible emptiness, as if something had utterly broken inside her.
Nami stood frozen, her steps halted in the middle of the village road that was now bathed in the first, cruel light of dawn. Her chest pounded, her eyes never leaving Nojiko's figure as she drew closer.
She wanted to run, to throw herself into her sister's arms, to cry and hold her as she had so many times before, but she couldn't, she can only watch as Nojiko stopped just a few feet away from her.
For a moment, the two sisters looked at each other. Nami's eyes were filled with tears, hot and desperate.
But Nojiko's eyes... they were empty. Without a smile, without tears, just a tired gaze that seemed to pierce Nami's very soul.
Nojiko slowly lifted her hand, her arm trembling, as if to hug her sister. But as soon as she saw the dried, brownish-black blood staining her arm, a dark, terrible mark on her skin and clothes... she hesitated.
Her hand hung in the air, shaking, a gesture of desperate affection aborted by the weight of her sins.
Nami saw it. She saw the stains... and more than that, she felt it. Not just the dried blood, but a profound, sickening sense of guilt for the horror she had been a part of.
Nojiko quickly pulled her hand back, as if burned by the memory.
Then, she turned her face away.
With a heavy heart, she looked at the villagers who had begun to gather behind Nami and Genzo. She tried to smile, but the expression was a painful grimace that was difficult to form on her lips.
"Arlong... and his pirates..." Nojiko's voice was soft and hoarse. "...have been taken care of."
The villagers looked at each other, their faces a mixture of disbelief and relief.
They found it hard to believe that the source of their misery, their decade-long nightmare, had finally ended in just one night.
A man in a black suit, standing beside Nojiko, stepped forward. His face was pale and utterly expressionless, almost like a living corpse, while his steps were stiff and regular, moving with the cold precision of a machine. His cold eyes were hidden behind dark glasses, radiating a terrifying calmness that felt more threatening than outright aggression.
"This village doesn't need to worry anymore," he said, his voice a low, chilling monotone. "We have handled the problem."
Genzo opened his mouth, but not a single word came out. His face turned pale as the man's cold gaze seemed to fall upon him, a silent, menacing weight.
"Arlong Park has been sterilized," the man continued, his voice devoid of any emotion. "No one is permitted to enter. There is no need to see or bury the bodies. That is an order."
The villagers slowly retreated, their fear overriding their relief. They were terrified by the man's blood-covered appearance and his cold, unfeeling attitude.
Even the children didn't dare to cry, causing the village to fall into a deep silence, broken only by the distant cries of sea birds.
A moment later, the man in the black suit spoke again. "We will be taking Nojiko with us to give a statement. This is a procedure."
The heavy silence was shattered as Genzo stepped forward with a heavy, determined stride. His fists were trembling, but his voice was firm and resolute, despite the tremor. "No, you can't," he said, his words ringing with a defiant courage. "That child... was entrusted to me by the late Bell-mère. I will not allow her to be taken away just like that, especially by people like you."
Genzo stood between Nojiko and the man in the black suit. His body was old and frail, but his courage had not faded. "Take me instead. I'll make the statement. Let her stay here."
Nami screamed, her tears spilling onto the ground. "Nojiko-nee, don't go with them! Don't leave!"
The man in the black suit turned his head, his cold stare falling upon Genzo with an unnerving stillness, like an ice stone. "It is not you we need. Nojiko saw the incident directly at the location. It is final."
Nojiko looked at Genzo, her eyes wet—not from fear of what awaited her, but from a terrifying certainty of what would happen to Genzo if she refused. She knew who these people were. She had seen their work firsthand, and she knew exactly what they were capable of.
They were not just murderers.
They were purifiers. Soulless machines that moved in the name of something far greater, far darker than any form of justice.
"Genzo-san..." Nojiko's voice was soft, barely a whisper. "It's okay. I will go with them."
Genzo's eyes widened. "What?! No, you—"
"I don't want them to touch the villagers... to touch you." Her voice was a little shaky, but her face was unnervingly calm. "I was at the scene. I'm the one who knows what happened. I... have to go."
She knelt down, gently touching Nami's shoulder.
"Take care of this village, Nami. Take care of the people. I will come back."
"But Nojiko-nee... I only have you..." Nami's voice broke as she clung to her sister, hugging her tightly.
Nojiko closed her eyes for a moment, allowing the tears to fall, then slowly stood. She gave a small nod to the man in the black suit, her gaze now resolute.
"I'm ready," she said, her voice clear and calm.
And without looking back, she walked, following the cold, emotionless men, accompanied by the worried gazes of the entire village. Her steps were steady, but her back looked much heavier than before, as if carrying the weight of a world she had just left behind.
Nami woke up, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
Her eyes opened wide, staring at the dark ceiling of her room. Her small chest rose and fell quickly, cold sweat soaking her forehead.
The dream... it felt so real. Everything was like a grim replay in her mind, the same nightmare that always came in her sleep.
Outside, the night was still dark.
A small window in the corner of her room showed only a moonless black sky, and the orange trees outside swayed slowly in the breeze, their leaves rustling softly, as if time itself was reluctant to move tonight.
Slowly, she sat up, hugging her knees to her chest.
"Nojiko..." she whispered, the name a fragile, broken prayer in the silence.
Her sister had not yet returned.
The feeling of unease gnawed at her heart, a constant, sharp ache that was becoming unbearable.
She couldn't wait any longer.
She couldn't just sit still.
After hardening her resolution, Nami got up, put on her thin jacket, and then opened the front door that creaked softly. The night greeted her with cold air and a moist sea breeze.
She ran, her small feet thumping on the cold, damp dirt, to Genzo's house.
Arriving there, she pounded on the door with all her small strength. "Genzo! Open! Genzo!!"
The light inside the house flickered on. A few seconds later, the door opened quickly. Genzo, wearing only his nightclothes and his sheriff's hat adorned with a windmill, looked at Nami with his eyes still half-closed with sleep.
"Nami?! What in the world are you doing in the middle of the night?!"
"I... I have to go to Arlong Park!" Nami screamed, her voice raw with desperation.
With a bewildered expression on his face, Genzo spoke."What?! It's the middle of the night!"
"My drawing supplies are still there! My books! My maps! I have to get them now!" Nami explained, her voice rising in a frantic pitch.
Genzo sighed, looking at Nami's eyes that were wet but shining with a fiery resolve.
"Nami... Arlong Park is not a safe place, even now. We don't even know what really happened there..."
"I know!" Nami exclaimed, her voice sharp with defiance. "But I also know that if I just stay still, everything will be lost! I don't want to lose anything else, Genzo! I... I have to go there!" The only way Nami knew to find her sister was to draw maps she could use to sail the seas and find her.
Genzo was silent. In Nami's eyes, he saw a reflection of the spirit he had once seen in Bell-mère's eyes—stubborn, fearless, and far too mature for a child her age.
After a long moment, he could only let out a heavy sigh of weary acceptance.
"Alright," he said, grabbing his coat and rifle. "But we'll go carefully. And if there's anything strange... we turn back, you hear?"
Nami nodded quickly, her eyes burning. "Yes. I promise."
Their steps trod softly on the dirt path that led to the ruins of Arlong Park. The night wind snuck through the gaps in the coconut trees, making the leaves rustle with a dry, mournful sound.
Nami gripped Genzo's hand tightly, her small fingers digging into his.
They walked in silence. Even their breath was held, as if they were afraid of disturbing something that was still hiding in the shadows.
When the large wooden gate of Arlong Park finally appeared, Genzo stopped.
Or, more accurately... what was left of the gate.
The gate was utterly destroyed. As if it had been struck by something unimaginably large. The wood was splintered and scorched, and the metal supports were bent beyond all recognition. The main building behind it was in even worse shape—the roof had collapsed, a tower was tilted and half-ruined, and the walls were covered in charred, black stains... as well as splashes of dried blood.
Blood was everywhere.
On the walls, the floor, even on the leaves of the small garden that had once been well-maintained.
"My god..." Genzo gasped, his old eyes sweeping the ruins with a look of pure horror. "What... what happened here?"
Nami stared at the place, her lips trembling. Her feet wouldn't move. She wanted to explain, wanted to tell him what she had seen...
But her voice was caught in her throat.
The shadows came back.
The large bodies of the Fish-Men lying without skin, without eyes. Guts dangling like a clothesline and a horrifying, putrid stench that was still recorded in her brain, even though there were no bodies left after Tsuru and her team had cleaned everything.
But the traces were still there.
CRACK
A small sound echoed from the ruins—perhaps a crumbling stone, perhaps a mouse—making Nami flinch violently.
She clutched Genzo's arm tightly, burying her face into his coat.
"Calm down," Genzo murmured, his own voice trembling despite his attempt to sound steady. "It's just a stone. Or an animal."
Their steps became slower.
Every footprint seemed to call back the sound of screams.
Every gust of wind that passed seemed to carry a chilling whisper of death.
Genzo glanced at Nami. "I can hardly believe this is Arlong Park.... What did you really see?"
Nami opened her mouth, but her voice would not come out.
Her eyes welled up with tears.
She looked down, then held her stomach, a profound sickness rising within her.
"I... I can't..." she whispered softly.
She was trying not to throw up. Her little heart could not stand the memory.
Genzo immediately hugged Nami, stroking her hair, his massive body a warm, comforting shield against the surrounding horror.
"It's okay," he said softly. "We don't need to talk now. Just get what you need, and then we'll get out of this place."
Nami nodded slightly, holding back her tears with a strength she didn't know she had. She took a deep, shaky breath, trying to steel herself, and then slowly entered the ruins of the building... heading toward the room full of suffering, the place where she had made her maps and dreamed of buying her village back.
Nami slowly stepped into the small room that used to be the place where she was forced to draw maps for Arlong.
Before this incident, the old wooden table in the corner of that room had always been piled high with the maps she drew herself, the navigation books Arlong had given her, and stacks of her notes on the weather, sea currents, and wind paths.
Now, only the shattered remnants were left.
The table was broken, its legs snapped in half.
The bookshelf was completely destroyed, its top half a mass of charred, burned wood.
And on the floor—scattered like dry leaves after a storm—were the maps. The maps that Arlong had guarded like his greatest treasure... were now torn, ripped, as if they had just been shredded by small, furious hands.
Nami fell to her knees. Her hands trembled as she picked up one of the torn pieces.
It was a map of the East Blue... the section of the route that led to the Grand Line. The map was full of colorful scribbles that she had made herself, marked with small stars and a note in the corner of the paper: "From here I will start."
Now, that part was ripped. Gone.
Her hands, still trembling, touched another torn piece. This time, a stain of dried blood was on the edge of the paper.
And on one of the large, torn pieces, a clear handprint was visible. Small. A girl's hand. And there was only one girl among the group of Marines and men in black suits.
"Nojiko-nee..." Nami whispered, her voice almost inaudible.
Her eyes widened, imagining the figure of her sister, standing in this room... in what state, she didn't know. Angry? Sad? Feeling guilty?
But why did you tear this, Nojiko-nee...?
Why would you ruin it…? How am I supposed to find you now…?
Nami pressed her lips together tightly, holding back the storm of emotions that were swirling within her. Her eyes were teary, her tears flowing fast, tracing paths down her dirt-covered cheeks.
She knew. She understood her sister's anger, her sadness, and her helplessness just like she felt right now.
Genzo, standing in the doorway, could only watch the small girl kneeling in the ruins, picking up the torn remnants of a path that had been cruelly shut — by the very person she was trying to find. He wanted to speak, but no words could reach a wound like that.